Political science professor Paul Wellstone pulled a major upset by defeating well funded Republican Senator Rudy Boschwitz in Minnesota. Conservative Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina was narrowly reelected with 52% of the vote, after airing a controversial advertisement on racial quotas that featured a white man's hands ripping up a rejection letter from an employer. In New Jersey, Democratic Senator Bill Bradley faced a surprisingly close race against Republican Christine Todd Whitman, which helped propel her to being elected governor in 1993.